Chapter Text
It had been four hours since the accident, and nothing had really changed. Suzy sat in the same place she had been in since she got to the hospital, on a cold and uncomfortable hair pulled up close enough to the bed that Arin could feel her breath, if he was conscious that is. As time crawled forward into the fifth hour, a hand suddenly patted her on the shoulder, making her jump unexpectedly
"Anything yet?"
"No, you think he's going to be ok?"
As soon as the words left her lips her eyes began to water, but before the tears could stain her face with sadness Barry put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close, resting her head against his shoulder
"Of course he is, you know that Arin's a fighter and it's only a minor injury,"
"But what if he never wakes up?"
"Suzy we can't sit here thinking about the negative stuff, the doctor said himself that everything's going to be fine,"
Suzy sniffed and cleared her eyes, then closed them and began to think about all the memories of Arin that made her smile, they had known each other for so long and she could have sat there all day and all night thinking about the good times but her train of thought was suddenly derailed when a low groan was heard from in front of her. She immediately sat up and looked forward to see Arin moving around uncomfortably in the bed, her voice almost shattered the windows as she happily squealed in joy
"Arin! You're ok!"
The doctors and nurses came to the side of the bed and tried to calm him down, he was understandably in shock as any person would be if they had their head hit against a concrete wall. One doctor turned to Suzy and Barry and smiled happily, clearly he was right that everything was going to be fine
"Miss.Berhow I have some good news but I also have some bad news. The good news is that he's going to be fine and make a full recovery, but the bad news is that the incident might have left him with some amnesia,"
"You mean, he won't know who I am?"
Suzy felt lucky that she was in a hospital because she was pretty sure that her heart just imploded on her, Arin was fine but if he didn't know who she was then things were going to be horrible for both him and her
"I'm afraid so, our tests show that it is temporary and he should have his full memory back in a few months, possibly a year or two,"
Barry saw Suzy's hand curl into a fist of rage and pain and decided to act quickly for her sake
"Excuse me doctor but I just need to talk to Suzy, is that ok?"
"Yeah that's fine, we'll work on getting Arin up and seeing just what state he's in,"
"Thanks,"
He grabbed Suzy and pulled her away from the doctor, putting his hands on her shoulders to keep her steady
"Suzy, listen to me, it's going to be fine, we'll get him home and he'll remember it all, how could he forget a person like Dan?"
Barry's smile always made Suzy feel better when she was down but now it was a rescue boat in a stormy sea. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself and then smiled back at Barry
"You're right, but I'm not sure I can handle talking to him,"
"That's fine but eventually you will, you want me to talk to him?"
"Please,"
Barry patted her shoulder and walked back over to the hospital bed, the doctors had all left now and Arin was sitting up with a confused and dazed expression, looking around the room for any information he could. Barry sat in the chair and cleared his throat, he spoke with caution so as not to scare Arin
"Hey,"
"Hi, are you a doctor here?"
"No, I'm Barry, we work together,"
"Oh, Hi Barry, do you know what happened?"
"Yeah, you hit your head against a wall and got amnesia, you don't remember anything do you?"
"No, come here,"
Arin signalled Barry to lean in for a secret and Barry complied, struggling slightly with the edge of the clunky hospital bed. Arin spoke in a hushed whisper so that only the two of them would hear what was being said
"Do you know my name?"
"Your name is Arin,"
"Ok cool cool, you see that girl over there, don't look, but the one behind you?"
Barry didn't have to look to know that he was referring to Suzy and he began to feel slightly sick in fear of what Arin might say about her
"Yea, what about her?"
"Is she your girlfriend?"
"No, why?"
Barry knew he had to be gentle, if he told Arin that Suzy was his wife it might be a huge shock to his system and that could do more damage, so he decided to take things in small steps
"She's so cute, whatever guy lands her must thank god every night, does she have a boyfriend?"
"Um...not really, anything else you want to talk about or can I sit back down now?"
"Oh sorry, yea that's all,"
Barry sat back down in his seat and waited for Arin to say something, anything that would cut the incredibly awkward silence that hanging between them, and eventually Arin did
"What's her name?"
"What?"
"The girl, what's her name, she keeps looking at me,"
"It's Suzy,"
"Cool, Hey Suzy?"
Barry's heart almost fell out of his chest when he heard Arin scream across the room, Suzy was probably going to be filled with such hope from hearing him say her name and that was going to be ruined, just as Barry expected Suzy was over by the edge of the bed in an instant and she happily replied
"Arin you remember me! You were right Barry he's better,"
"Remember you? How do I know you?"
"What? How did you know my name?"
"Barry told me, you kept looking at me and I assumed you liked me,"
Suzy began to tear up and sunk her head into Barry's shoulder, knowing that it was the only place she could turn to for comfort right now, Barry smoothed her hair out and began to whisper to her
"It's ok Suzy, he's going to be fine,"
"Hey I'm sorry, did I say something I shouldn't have? If you have a boyfriend or husband then I'm sorry,"
Suzy began to cry louder as she heard the words, they were like daggers in her ears, she never thought her own husband would be questioning her relationship status from a hospital bed and be completely clueless the whole time, and it was a nightmare. When she finally took her head of Barry's shoulder she looked over to the still puzzled Arin and decided that he needed to know who she was before she lost him
"Arin, you're my husband,"
"What? We're...we're married?"
"Yea, look,"
She put her hand beside his to show the matching rings and smiled as Arin's face lit up with joy
"You married me? That's crazy!"
"Why's it so crazy?"
"Well look at you and look at me,"
Suzy giggled as she began to see shades of the old Arin again, it suddenly didn't annoy her as much that Arin had forgotten about her, because it meant that they got to fall in love all over again. Arin smiled as she laughed and began to question her more and more on their life together
"When did we meet?"
"We met at an anime convention about ten years ago, I was 13 and you were 16,"
"We met when you were 13? That's crazy!"
Suzy laughed at Arins confusion and began to find herself becoming more comfortable with the situation, part of her was still in a deep fear of losing Arin because he was a different person but she mostly saw the same Arin that she fell in love with and married. The doctor came over to the side of the bed with a clipboard in his hand and looked at Arin with a smile
"Hello Mr.Hanson, how do you feel?"
Arin looked at the doctor and then to Barry who was standing at the side of the bed watching him. After a short silence the doctor cleared his throat and asked again, becoming slightly more worried about Arins health
"Umm, Mr.Hanson?"
"Arin answer the guy,"
Arin's head turned from Barry to the doctor, who was still rather confused with the whole situation, Arin laughed and began to explain what seemed to be a major failure on his brains part
"Sorry, I thought he was Mr.Hanson, is that me?"
The doctor laughed and began to write on his clipboard
"Yes, you're Arin Hanson, are you feeling ok?"
"I feel great, except I don't remember like anything,"
"That's fine, but if you don't mind we'd like to do a few more tests to make sure you are fully recovered,"
"Sure,"
The doctor helped Arin out of the bed and just before he followed the doctor to do the additional tests he turned to Suzy and looked into her clear green eyes
"You know where I live right? I can't really remember,"
"I'll bring you home as soon as they let me, now hurry,"
Arin smiled and walked away with the doctor, when they left Barry turned to Suzy with a rather smug smile on his face
"What's so funny?"
"I told you he was going to be fine, he loves you already,"
Suzy laughed and looked down at the floor to hide her blush, she knew that deep down Arin did love her and that he would remember her again soon, but there was something about the way he seemed to fall in love with her the second he spoke to her that made her feel really good inside. It wasn't long before Suzy and Barry were showing Arin out to the car and driving him home, listening to him talk about everything that he saw along the way
"Oh my god look at that cat, it's so fluffy,"
"Do you like cats Arin?"
"They are so cute, I've always wanted to own one,"
Suzy and Barry giggled as Arin looked at them with a confused expression on his face
"What? What's so funny? Am I allergic to cats?"
"No, you.."
"Just leave it Barry we are almost home,"
Suzy smiled devilishly at Barry to let him know that she wanted to surprise Arin and so he kept quiet until they arrived at the house. When they pulled up to the house Arin noticed two other cars already parked and began to bounce with excitement
"We have three cars? Are we rich?"
Suzy sighed unhappily, she was hoping to talk to Arin and give him as much of a run down as she could before the others all introduced themselves but all they knew was that Arin was ok and coming home, so she couldn't blame them. She turned to Barry who had already undone his seatbelt as if he could read her mind
"Could you go in and tell them?"
"Of course, I'll come out when they are ready,"
"Thanks,"
Barry got out of the car and went into the house as Suzy began to talk to Arin to try and help jog his memory. As Barry gently closed the large wooden door a familiar face ran into the hallway filled with excitement and instantly began to ask a million questions
"Where is he? Is he ok? Does he have any cool scars?"
"Ross calm down, where is everyone?"
"Kitchen,"
Ross hurried back into the kitchen and Barry followed, soon finding Dan, Holly and Ross all sitting at the table waiting for Arin, he sat down on one of the chairs and took a deep breath as he began to break the somewhat difficult news
"Barry you don't look too good, is he ok?"
Barry looked up to see the genuine worry on Dan's face, not that it surprised him. They had such a tight friendship that almost seemed weird at times and so when Dan learned that Arin didn't remember him, Barry kinda expected the worst
"Yea, yes he's fine, but he has some amnesia,"
"Oh god, is it bad?"
"He doesn't remember any of us, he's outside with Suzy and she's trying her best but it is tough on her, I can see it. So try to be gentle and don't freak him out when he comes in ok?"
They all agreed and Barry stood up to go outside and bring Arin in. When he walked outside he went over to the car and saw Suzy whispering something into Arin's ear, making him giggle slightly and then look away from her in embarrassment, Barry decided to not question it and instead knocked on the window if Suzy's side to let them know. Suzy got out and ran around the car to help Arin out and towards the door, opening it for him and closing it when he walked in. The others heard the door closed and became nervous as they clung on to the last hope that this was some sick joke, but knew as soon as they heard Arin's voice from the hallway
"Wow, who owns this house?"
His voice was filled with genuine confusion and wonder, something that couldn't be portrayed or acted out, and they all grew slightly more tense as his footsteps became closer. Just before he entered the kitchen Suzy's sweet and gentle voice was hear
"It's our house, you picked it out,"
"I think I did a good job, it's so cool,"
Suzy giggled as she entered the kitchen and saw the nervous group in front of her, she looked to Holly first, knowing that she was the most mature out of the three and would probably handle the situation with the most care. Holly picked up on the cue and stood up, extending her hand out to Arin and smiling warmly
"Hi, I'm Holly,"
Arin shook her hand nervously and looked back at Suzy for a clue for what to say, but Suzy had sat down next to some skinny teenager and was already in a conversation
"I'm Arin, do you live here?"
"No, you work with Ross and I'm married to him,"
She looked back at Ross to signify who he was but Arin missed the cue, instead he was looking around the room at the strange decorations, when Holly turned back to him he gulped nervously, hoping that she had not noticed that he wasn't listening
"Oh, I work with your husband, right, Hi Holly's husband,"
Arin looked past her and waved to Dan, causing him and Holly to laugh and for Ross to get angry. When Arin saw the laughter he took a small step back, and shrunk slightly where he stood. Ross got up and began to walk over to Arin, only to be blocked by Holly, who pulled him away and put her arms on his shoulders
"Hey, he doesn't know, don't get annoyed at him,"
"Did I do something wrong?"
"This is Ross, he's the one I'm married to, that over there is Danny,"
Holly ruffled Ross' hair and pointed to a still laughing Dan, who stood up and walked over to Arin, also putting out his hand and shaking it firmly
"Hey, you can call me Dan,"
He smiled casually, making Arin feel slightly uneasy, but instead of questioning it he went to what he had now established as his go to line in times of confusion
"Do you live here?"
"No, only you and Suzy live here, we work together,"
"Oh ok, Suzy I need to speak to you outside,"
"Um...sure, we'll just be a second,"
Suzy followed Arin out to the hallway and watched as he almost fainted with confusion, everything was happening to fast for him and it was all too much, all he knew was that he worked with these people and that was it, he looked over to Suzy and spoke in a hushed and shaky voice
"Why are there so many people in the kitchen? This is freaking me out,"
Suzy pulled him close and hugged him, resting her head on his chest and putting her arms around his waist, she pulled him as close as she could and nearly broke him in half before he put his arms around her waist and rested his head on hers
"This feels...better, what did you do there?"
"I gave my husband a hug, I know it's difficult for you baby but you'll make it through, I promise,"
"Baby? Is that like your nickname for me?"
"Well not really, I just sorta say it sometimes, but I mean it, I'm here for you every step of the way,"
"Thanks...you know that Holly girl?"
"Yea what about her?"
"She's not going to hate me for thinking she was married to the other guy is she?"
"No way, Holly is probably the kindest person in the world, she never hates anyone,"
"Ok, I was really scared that I had offended her,"
"I know, I saw it in the way you reacted,"
Arin pulled himself away from Suzy and looked down at her, seeing her look up at him with hope and optimism began to make him feel like everything was going to be ok
"You could really tell?"
"Yeah, I can tell a lot about you by the way you act, I've known you since I was 13 after all,"
She smiled happily and laughed as Arin smiled back at her, then put her arms around his neck and pulled his head down to be on the same level as hers, she smiled as she pressed her forehead against his and watched him laugh with confusion
"What are you doing? Are you trying to talk to me telepathically?"
"No, I wanted to tell you something,"
"What is it?"
"I love you Arin, and I'm going to make sure that you don't feel scared about any of this,"
Without warning she kissed him and smiled as his face grew a dark shade of red. She began to giggle as Arin began to stutter and fumble over his words
"I...I mean I think I love you, well I must, we are married aren't we?"
"Yup, you wanna go back inside again and try to start over?"
"Sure, but first,"
He quickly kissed her back and held her close, feeling his heart float with joy as he tasted her lip-gloss and held her body to his, feeling the warmth of her made him feel like he was going to faint. When their lips finally parted he stood up straight and smiled down at her
"Let's go back inside,"
They walked back inside and looked at the four rather confused people who were all still sat around the table, after a long and mind shattering silence Holly spoke up with an uncertain voice
"Sorry we couldn't stay longer but Ross and I have to go, right?"
She turned to Ross with a stern look in her eye, hoping that he would pick up on the not so subtle hint that she was dropping. Ross nervously replied as he nodded his head slightly
"Yea, we have to start diner, it was great seeing you Arin,"
He looked to Arin who was staring back at him with his lip between his lips, and a smile on his face, Ross knew what was happening and turned to Holly with a pained expression, whispering to her so that no one would hear him
"He's going to make fun of my accent, I hate when he does that,"
"You don't know that, he might just be nervous or something,"
Holly patted Ross' shoulder and kissed him lightly, instantly seeing him loosen up and turn back to Arin
"Like I said, great seeing you,"
"Where are you from?"
Ross groaned slightly as he settled in for what was sure to be a large number of questions and jokes about his accent and his life in Australia, but before he got a chance to reply Suzy put her arms around Arin and pulled him close
"Why don't you all stay and we'll make dinner? That sound good Arin?"
"Um...yeah, sure, but where..."
"Great, could you get the stuff out? You guys wanna move into the living room?"
They all agreed and got up to move into the other room, as Ross passed Suzy he whispered a small thank you to her and then hurried on to join Barry and Dan. Suzy turned to see Arin looking around in various shelves and Holly standing in the kitchen looking at her with a small smile on her face. She came over to Suzy and spoke to her in a hushed voice
"You need anything you know that I'm here for you?"
"Yeah I know, and I appreciate it,"
"I mean it Suzy, anything you need I'll be here,"
"What exactly are you implying Miss.Conrad?"
Suzy smiled as Holly giggled and slapped her arm for twisting her words, but then returned to speaking in her hushed tone
"I just don't want you to think you're alone, I know this is going to be difficult for you,"
"Don't worry Hols, if I need help you're the first person I'd go to,"
The two girls laughed slightly and hugged as Holly began to walk into the living room to the sound of three men all laughing over some joke that probably involved dicks in some way. When she left Suzy closed the door and turned to Arin, who was watching her still confused
"What was she saying?"
"It's nothing, but we need to talk,"
"Did I do something wrong? I didn't mean to hurt anyone or anything,"
"No, but don't talk about Ross' accent, it really bugs him,"
Arin moaned and leaned back against the counter as he held his face in his hands, Suzy instantly went to his side and pulled his hands away from his face, speaking in a gentle and caring voice
"Hey it's ok, he isn't going to be annoyed or anything, just don't mention it,"
"That's what she was talking about right? God I'm an idiot,"
"No you're not an idiot, you didn't know that he was sensitive about it, and that's not what Holly was talking about,"
"What was she talking about?"
"It was private, come here,"
She opened her arms and pulled Arin in for a hug, holding him tight and patting his back gently, she heard him sniff but was sure that he wasn't crying, when she kissed the side of his face he tightened his grip on her and whispered into her ear
"I'm not going to let this thing beat me, if you are this sweet then I want to remember you,"
"Aww, thanks baby,"
He let her go and continued to look around the room as she went into the living room to talk to their guests. When she got in she noticed all of the seats were taken and she stood, but soon Dan got up and offered his seat
"No, it's fine, I'll stand,"
"Are you sure Suze?"
"Yeah, how are you guys?"
They all began to chat as Arin looked around the kitchen for a drawer filled with pots and pans, after a pointless search he sat at the table and looked at Suzy's phone on the counter, he picked it up and opened the internet, then began to think about a store that would sell pizza, but he couldn't remember any. After a few minutes Holly walked in to get a drink and saw him at the table
"Hey,"
Arin almost dropped the phone and went through the roof the way he jumped, he put the phone down on the table and began to feel his face grow warmer as Holly sat down on the hair beside him, she was so casual to the whole thing and it was the most nerve wrecking thing ever
"What you up too?"
"Just, um..., just checking the time, you?"
"I was getting a drink, you really don't remember anything about any of us?"
"No, why? Do we not get on or something?"
Holly laughed at the absurdity of what Arin was saying, but at the same time she noticed how nervous he was with being one on one with her, she stopped and smiled warmly at him
"No we get on fine, it's just weird to think that you don't remember us,"
"The doctor said it's only temporary and I'll remember everything eventually,"
"Well that's a relief, I was afraid we'd lost our Arin,"
She laughed again, but this time Arin laughed alone with her, he had seen that she was a nice and caring person and that he was going to learn to like her, even if he couldn't remember anything about her. He felt like he should ask about Ross and the accent but remembered that Suzy told him not too, and he didn't want to jeopardise a friendship before it had really started
"What were you saying to Suzy?"
"What? You mean when I went into the other room?"
"Yeah, was it something about me?"
"No, I was just saying to her that if she needed any help then she could call me,"
"That's really nice of you, are you and Suzy close?"
"We are like sisters,"
Arin began to smile as he learned more about Holly, he explained his embarrassment of not knowing a pizza store and laughed as she called one from her phone and ordered pizza for them all to eat. Dinner was enjoyable with everyone making Arin feel more comfortable than he could with a group of strangers. When they all left he sat on the couch with Suzy and they talked about everything under the sun. Suzy had an answer for all of Arin's questions and eventually had to cut him off by checking the time
"God it's midnight, we should probably get to bed,"
"Yeah, I don't want to be tired tomorrow, can you show me where I sleep?"
"Sure, follow me,"
She got up and grabbed his hand, pulling him after her as she went up the stairs and into the bedroom, she pointed to the bed and smiled at Arin
"You sleep on the left side, I sleep on the right side, the bathroom's in there and that's Mochi and Mimi's beds,"
Arin's brain swam with questions as he tried to comprehend what Suzy had said, his first question was about the bed
"Did you say I sleep on the bed?"
"Duh, you wouldn't sleep on the floor would you?"
"So...we're going to sleep in the same bed tonight?"
Suzy looked at Arin with an amused expression on her face but it instantly changed to a look of fear and concern when she saw Arin's face
"Wow it's ok baby, if you're not comfortable with that then I understand,"
"Aren't you my wife?"
"Yeah, but I don't want you to be nervous about anything, we'll take this as slow as you want,"
"No, I should trust you, you've been nothing but nice to me since I woke up and I know you aren't going to do anything,"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, but I have another question,"
Suzy sat on the bed and patted the space beside her, Arin sat as she put her arms around him and hugged him
"What is it?"
"What's Momi and Michi?"
Suzy laughed and smiled as Arin began to chuckle in confusion and question her
"What?"
"You said them wrong, it's Mimi and Mochi, they are our cats,"
"We have two cats? Where are they?"
Arin was filled with such joy that Suzy thought he was going to explode, she giggled and lifted her hand to run it through his hair, he shivered slightly and looked down at her, smiling happily and feeling very safe. After a moment of peaceful silence Suzy got up and went into the hall telling Arin that she would only be a few minutes. Arin waited patiently and after a while saw two small cats wonder into the room and bounce up onto the bed, one settled on his lap while another lay down on Suzy's pillow and closed its eyes. Arin smiled happily and began to run his hand over the smooth and soft fur of the cat
"It's so cute, which one is this?"
Suzy sat down beside him with a smile on her face and put her hand around his shoulders, resting her head against him again and giggling as he played with the small cat
"That's Mochi, the one sleeping on my pillow is Mimi, Mochi's the girl on,"
Arin began to say the name to the cat, running his hand through the fur and cooing as if it was a new born baby. He looked down at Suzy and giggled as she smiled back up at him her smile could have lit the whole house up and it made Arin feel really happy right in the bottom of his heart. She ran her hand through Mochi's fur and kissed him lightly on the cheek
"We should really get to bed, it's pretty late,"
"Good idea, what...no never mind,"
"What is it baby, I don't care if it sounds silly,"
"What do I usually wear when I sleep?"
Arin blushed and hid his face in his hands, Suzy smiled and hugged him tight, making sure not to laugh and make it seem like she was picking on him
"You usually wear pyjamas, they are in that drawer over there,"
She pointed to a drawer and kissed Arin's cheek again to make sure he knew that she was going to be here for him. He looked up at her with a slight look of embarrassment on his face
"I told you I'm here for you, don't be scared to ask me anything, no matter what it is,"
"You're so sweet, I don't know what I did to deserve you,"
Suzy blushed and giggled then went into the bathroom to get changed and allow Arin to get changed, when she came back in he was changed and under the covers, she got in beside him and kissed his cheek
"Goodnight Arin,"
"Goodnight Suzy,
"I...I love you,"
"I love you too,"